


You're My Nicotine

by Zayren



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Romance, because chen deserves it, because i miss beijing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 05:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7561399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zayren/pseuds/Zayren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fateful encounter leads to so much more one September night in Beijing. Who knew that late night strolls could ever end like this?</p>
<p>OR: Because I miss Beijing and I'm salty I couldn't go to the EXO concert.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're My Nicotine

 

Jess was pissed.  First of all, she had to work ten hours that day, plus the hour it took her to get to work thanks to all of the transfers that she had to make on the subway.  That was already eleven hours of her day, gone.  Now, she had to make the trip back, which would waste another hour of her time.  Sometimes, she really regretted her choice to move to Beijing.  The one good thing that came out of it all was her being able to go to more Kpop concerts, though.  In fact, EXO had had one that very night, right in her very city.  Not like she could go, though.  No, she had been stuck at work all day.  However, it wasn’t like she could even afford to go if she wanted to – which she did, of course.  Let’s face it, she was broke.  Such was the life of an English teacher with a love for Kpop merchandise.

Not wanting to head back to her lonely apartment just then, Jess instead decided to roam the streets of Beijing.  She had only been living in the lively city for about a month, maybe a little more, and therefore could definitely use the exploration.  Alone and lonely, she waved goodbye to her coworkers and set off in the direction of the subway, which was about a ten minute walk from the school that she taught at.  Deciding against getting off at her normal stop, she took a different route.  It was about damn time for a little bit of adventure, anyway.

Unknown to her, however, she just so happened to end up in the part of Beijing that EXO’s concert venue was at.  Pushing through a crowd of people with her head bowed low, Jess searched for an opening in the throng of people.  Finally finding one after much pushing and shoving, she breathed a sigh of relief, walking further into the darkness that was behind a huge building that she didn’t know the name of.  Digging through her backpack, she pulled out a cigarette and her lighter.  Too busy with the process of both walking and trying to light her cancer stick, she didn’t notice the burly man coming up to her with a frown on his face.  Jess inhaled deeply, finally having been able to get her stupid lighter to work.   _Ah, nicotine_.

“Excuse me, miss,” the guard started off in rapid fire Mandarin.  Jess’ head snapped up, her hazel eyes widening in shock.  Er…what? He tries again, this time in broken English, after seeing that she was a foreigner.  “You cannot be here,” he said sternly.  She blinked at him, not noticing that the door on the side of the building had opened and a figure came out just in time to catch the tail end of their conversation.

“Uh…why?” she asked in Mandarin, not seeing any reason as to why she couldn’t escape from the people by hiding in the space behind the building.

“I cannot be responsible for the harming of the members,” he said, once again in Mandarin.  Jess didn’t entirely understand all of what he had said, but she understood enough to get the gist of what he was trying to tell her.   _Members?_ She thought to herself.   _What members?_ Shrugging it off, she turned to leave.

“Whatever, man.  I don’t even know who you’re talking about,” she told him in her accented Mandarin before walking slowly away, puffing on her cigarette as she went.  The figure that had come from the door scoffed softly, not believing her for a second.  Girls always had something up their sleeves, after all.  So, following his heart, he decided to follow her.

After a few blocks – which, by the way, are much larger than American blocks – the person following Jess starts to feel a sliver of guilt.  Turned out that she was actually telling the truth after all.  Just as he was about to go back to the concert venue and return to his other members, Jess surprised him by turning around abruptly, making him give out a particularly unmanly yelp.

“Why are you following me?” she demands, speaking in English.  The person following her – which, she noted, was dressed suspiciously in dark skinny jeans, black high tops, an over-sized dark colored hoodie with the hood up and a black, star patterned face mask – just gave her a dead stare.  Looking into his oddly familiar eyes, she realized her mistake.  He most definitely was not a foreigner like she was.  After ducking her head sheepishly (although she didn’t know why), she repeated her question in broken Mandarin.

His eyes widened at having been caught.  Clearing his through of the uncomfortable feeling that had gotten lodged in it, he stopped for a moment to get a proper look at her now that they were illuminated by the street lights.  He almost gasped.  She was breathtaking.

She was short, standing no more than 160 centimeters tall.  She was on the heavier side, her thighs touching in their dark skinny jeans.  She wore a simple tank top and beat up Converse high tops.  Her dark hair was pulled up into a messy bun, a few loose strands coming down to hang in her face.  Her hazel colored eyes glared at him, but upon taking a closer look, the boy noticed that something seemed to be…lacking, in her eyes.  After his quick observation, he spoke in slow Mandarin, his own not being very fluent either.

“I was just…curious, about you,” he said slowly.  Jess’ eyebrows furrowed.  First, it’s his eyes, and now his _voice_ is familiar, too? Had she met him somewhere before, or something? The mysterious boy, seeing her confusion, sighed slightly before smirking underneath his facemask.   _She’d figure it out_ , he thought smugly.  After a minute of silence, the girl’s eyes widened almost comically.

“No way!” she exclaimed in English.  There is _no_ fucking way that Kim fucking Jongdae is standing in front of me, she screamed internally.  No fucking way.  The boy – now identified as Kim Jongdae – laughed quietly to himself, amused by her reaction.  Seemed as if he was, indeed, correct.  She was a fan.  “What are _you_ doing following me?” she asked in her broken Mandarin.  Jongdae shrugged.

“Maybe it was fate,” he smirked.  Rolling her eyes, Jess turned away from him, intent on continuing her aimless walk.  “Hey, wait for me!” he called after her, hurrying to catch up.  Honestly, he didn’t know _why,_ exactly, he was following her, but his gut instinct told him that she would be okay to be around.

It was a strange feeling, and one he would remember for years to come.  He quickly fell into place beside her as she lit up another cigarette.  Wrinkling his nose a little at the smell of the smoke, he ignored it in favor of getting a closer look at his new companion. “So, where are we going?” he questioned.  She shrugged, expelling a cloud of smoke.

“Nowhere,” she answered shortly.  Now, don’t go misunderstanding her.  She was absolutely ecstatic about meeting one of her ultimate idols, but that didn’t mean that she was going to completely change her usual personality – which was, in fact, rather depressed and generally apathetic.  Jongdae turned to look at her in confusion.  Normally, girls would die to even get a glimpse of him, and here he was, walking and having a conversation with this girl and she acted completely indifferent about it.  Thinking nothing of it – at least for now – he just quietly kept pace with her.

That is, until he spotted a street food vendor.  Jongdae’s eyes widened and he hurriedly grabbed onto Jess’ wrist, completely ignoring her squawk of protest.  “Let’s get some food!” he said.  “I’m _starving_.” Pulling her to sit down on the small, plastic stools that were in front of the vendor’s grill, he started piling sticks loaded with a variety of meats and vegetables onto the small dish that he was handed.  When he noticed that his companion was not following his lead, however, he stopped and stared at her in confusion.  “Why are you not eating?” he questioned, keeping in mind that he had to speak slowly in order for her to be able to understand him.

“No money,” was her short reply.  He simply raised an eyebrow at her, chomping down on a piece of chicken.

“Have you forgotten who I am?” he asked mockingly.  Jess, in reply, just shook her head in the negative.  “Well then get some food! My treat,” he told her.  Seeing her slightly confused face, he sighed and just started filling her plate with a variety of foods, ignoring her protests once again.

In the years to come, the both of them would soon consider this their first date.

As the night went on, the two of them continued to hang out, talking about anything and everything that came to their minds. They sometimes used a translator that Jongdae had on his phone when they were unable to properly convey what they wanted to say. It was awkward at first, but the pair soon grew accustomed to it.  They were both laughing loudly at a comment Chen had made when they were interrupted by his phone ringing. Giving her a sheepish look, he quickly answered it.

“Hello? Minseok-ah…Yeah…Yeah…I know…Just somewhere, don’t worry about it…Okay, I’ll be back soon.  See ya.”

As he turned to Jess, she immediately knows that their time together is up.  “So…I guess this is goodbye.” The way she said it made it seem as if she didn’t care at all.  But, by the look in her eyes, Jongdae knows differently.

“Yeah, I guess,” he sighed.  “I erm…I had a really fun time tonight, Jess,” she ignored how the way that he said her name gave her butterflies.  “Goodbye.” With that being said, the two turned their backs to each other, going their separate ways and never expecting to see the other again.

However, Fate, of course, had different plans for those two.

A little over one month later, Jess still couldn’t get her late night encounter with Kim Jongdae out of her head.  It was like a curse.  So, she found herself once again out after dark, only this time it’s in the part of Beijing where she lived, called Shuangjing.  She was at the little convenience store that was directly across the street from her apartment, buying ramen and a pack of cigarettes.  After paying the store clerk and shoving the ramen into her backpack, she stepped out of the shop while packing her cigarettes, only to get the shock of her life.

“Y’know, those things will kill you one day…” An extremely familiar voice spoke up from her left. Stopping in her tracks, her hand froze on its way up to her mouth, the lit cigarette in her hand hanging limply in her fingers.  Turning her head to the left, Jess held in a gasp of shock.  Kim Jongdae was standing there, wearing dark skinny jeans, bright red high tops, an oversized black and red hoodie, hood pulled up over his black snapback.  And just like the last time, he was wearing a face mask – this one just a plain black – but Jess could recognize those eyes anywhere.  And that voice.

“J-Jongdae…” she cursed herself for stuttering.  Averting her eyes from him so he wouldn’t see the blush that had dusted her cheeks, she lifted the cigarette to her mouth and took a deep drag.  Jongdae stepped closer to her as she exhaled, the thick grey smoke billowing up towards the sky.

“Jess,” he said in return.  A wide smile made his eyes turn into crescents.  “I thought that I would never see you again,” he confessed.  A small smile graced her face at his words, and she took a step towards him, careful to keep the smoke away from him.

“Same here,” she answered him.  “But…why are you here in the first place?” she asked, extremely curious.  He chuckled sheepishly.

“We finished touring, so EXO-M is back in Beijing for a little while,” he told her.  She nodded, absorbing the information.

“And what, exactly, brings you all the way to Shuangjing?”

“Uh…” He trailed off, unsure of how to properly answer her question.  “Well, I honestly don’t know,” he started off. “I was just walking around and just so happened to wind up here.  Who knows,” he gave her a cocky smirk. She found herself wanting to kiss it off of him.  “Maybe it was fate.” She laughed slightly at that, accepting his answer.

“Okay, and another question,” she paused, and he quickly gestured for her to continue.  “Why are you out so late at night? Aren’t your band members going to worry?” He simply shrugged in response.

“I just like being out at night, what’s your excuse?” he shot back.  At this question, Jess became silent, contemplating what to tell him.  Finally, she settled on the truth; or, at least half of the truth.

“Let me ask you this,” she said quietly, making Jongdae strain his ears to catch the rest of her sentence.  “Would you rather out-monster the monster, or be quietly devoured?”  She ignored the questions that spewed from his mouth after, and instead started walking, leaving a very confused Chen to scamper after her.

“Wait! Jess! What do you mean by that?” he finally asked after he had caught up with her.  Once again, they were walking side by side in the middle of the night.

“I just...have a lot of nightmares,” she admitted after taking a few deep drags of her cigarette.  His eyes softened and he instinctively reached for her hand, intertwining their fingers.  Jess jerked slightly, and her face grew red, but she did not pull away.

Again, they spent the night talking about anything that came to their minds, and didn’t let go of the other’s hand for more than a minute the entire time that they were together.  It was as if an invisible tie held them together; as soon as one would let go, the other would immediately pull them back in.

But, like the last time that they were together, the obnoxious ringing of Chen’s cell phone interrupted their conversation about zombies.  Surprisingly, it had been a very in depth conversation.

“I have to go…” he said softly, sadness in his eyes, as soon as he hung up his phone.  She sighed, sadness lacing the breath of air, and dug into her backpack for another cigarette.  Surprisingly, she hadn’t felt the need to inhale the sweet nicotine when she was with Chen.  Now that he would be leaving her, however, she definitely felt the need to smoke.

“Well, I highly doubt that we are going to get lucky enough to see each other again, so…goodbye, Jongdae,” she said softly after lighting her cancer stick.  She went to turn away from him but was stopped by his firm hand on her arm.

“Wait…” she turned to him with a look of surprise on her face.  “I…um…Can I have your number?” he asked quickly, before the courage could leave him.  Sure, he might have been an internationally famous Kpop star, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t get nervous around a pretty girl.  He was still a guy, after all.  Jess’ eyes widened in surprise before she nodded, hesitant.

“Oh! Um…sure.” And with hesitant fingers and wide smiles, the two quickly exchanged numbers, WeChat IDs and QQs.  Just in case, he had said.  Laughing slightly to herself, Jess couldn’t see to wipe off the large smile she had on her face as she waved goodbye to Chen as he climbed into a taxi.  The subway had long been closed for the night.

As the months passed, there wasn’t a day when Jess and Jongdae didn’t talk.  Even if it was just a good morning or a good night text, they still managed to talk to each other every day.  Even when Jongdae’s day was packed with different schedules and practices, he managed to check his phone at least once an hour; while it may not seem like much, it meant the world to Jess.  And even when Jess’ day was filled with planning lessons and teaching screaming children English, she still remembered to check her phone and also made sure to remind him to keep healthy; it wasn’t much, but it meant the world to him.

So much, in fact, that his fellow band members had started becoming more and more curious about why Jongdae had been spending the past few months attached to his phone.  However, whenever asked, he would just shrug, his face alight with a self-satisfied smile.  As if he knew something that nobody else did.

The two of them managed to meet up, late at night as usual, during any free time that they had, and whenever Chen was actually in Beijing.  Whenever they were together, they always managed to be touching each other in some way.  At first, it was an unconscious gesture, but after a while, it had gotten to the point where whenever they were with each other, their hands were touching the others.  Not that they minded, of course.  What started as a gesture of trust and friendship, was now a gesture of a budding romance that neither of them knew about.

They had been meeting secretly for a few months when Jongdae brought up a topic that slightly scared Jess.  “So…would you wanna…meet my friends?” he asked hesitantly.  Her eyes widened.

“W-what?” she asked, startled.  Surely, he knew by now that she was a huge EXO fan.  Why would he allow her to actually meet her favorite idols? “Why?”

“Well,” he started out.  “I know that you’re a big fan of ours, and I think I know you well enough by now to know that you won’t like…go crazy or something.” He chuckled lightly when he saw the wide grin on her face.  “I take it that’s a yes?” he asked sarcastically.

“Of course!” she exclaimed, making a few late night wanderers turn in their direction.  Chen quickly ducked his head while Jess apologized furiously for bringing unwanted attention to them.  He brushed it off nonchalantly.

Finally, the time came when they both had free time that wasn’t during the middle of the night.  Chen had said that he would meet her at her apartment at noon and then the two would take a taxi back to the boys’ dorm.  However, 12:15 had rolled around and there was still no sign of the singer.  Just when she was about to say fuck it and go back to her room to sulk, a taxi screeched to a halt in front of where she had been standing, making her take a step back in shock.  When Jongdae stepped out, hair a mess and clothes disheveled, she was, needless to say, confused.

“Sorry I’m late!” he huffed out, obviously having been yelling directions and instructions at the cab driver, who definitely looked less than happy.  Jess sighed before turning to face him fully.

“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.  “Let’s just get this over with, yeah?” Brushing past him, she slipped into the taxi.  Grinning slightly at her behavior, Chen adjusted his crooked snapback and followed her into the cab.  Nudging her slightly, he smiled at her.

“By the way, you look beautiful,” he told her.  “I’ll have to be on guard to make sure that my friends don’t pull anything.” When she slapped his arm at his comment, neither of them failed to see the blush decorating the others face.  And, for a moment, they had the fleeting thought that maybe, just maybe, there was hope.

When the cab arrived at their destination, Jongdae quickly paid the driver and pulled Jess from the vehicle, impatiently whining.  “Why are you in such a hurry?” she groaned.  He paused slightly, his face going red at the thought that ran through his head.

“Well, I want my friends to meet the girl that I-“ he broke off suddenly as his cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of crimson.  “Y’know what, never mind.  C’mon, let’s go.” Her mind went wild.  What was he going to say? The girl he _what_? Frustrated, Jess bit her bottom lip, but tightened her grip on his hand nonetheless.  After hopping into the nice elevator that led them up to the boys’ floor, her grip on Chen’s hand had gotten tighter and tighter.

“Uh…Jess? Can you loosen your grip? I can’t feel my fingers…” he asked, a grimace on his face.  Blushing, she did as he asked.

“Sorry…I’m just nervous.  What if they don’t like me?”

“Nonsense!” he protested.  “They’ll love you.  Believe me.  After all, what’s not to love?” With that being said, he unlocked the door and pulled her in quickly, before she had the chance to change her mind.  Hearing the tell-tale signs of the door opening and slamming shut, four boys came rushing into the living area, all in various states of dress.  Never having been one to be embarrassed about the human body, Jess just blankly stared at them, her eyebrow raised.

“Huh.  That’s weird.  She’s not freaking out,” a shirtless Tao said, cocking his head to the side.

“Maybe it’s an American thing?” Yixing, dressed in a form fitting tank top and loose sweats, stated.

“Actually,” Jess interrupted, and Jongdae had to grin at the looks on their faces after realizing that she could understand them.  “I just don’t find any reason to freak out about a body.” It was quiet for a few moments before raucous laughter startled her.

“Haha, I like her!” Lu Han said, clutching his bare stomach.

“Yeah, it’s no wonder you’re practically in –“ Minseok was cut off by Jongdae letting go of Jess’ hand and frantically rushing over to cover his friend’s mouth.

“Shut up, you idiot!” he hissed while the others watched in confusion.  “She doesn’t know yet!” Realization dawned in Minseok’s eyes and he nodded his head quickly.  “Anyway,” Jongdae went on, acting as if nothing had happened.  “Jess, this is Minseok, Lu Han, Yixing, and Tao,” he told her before gesturing dramatically to the girl standing there awkwardly.  “Guys, this is Jess, the one I’ve been…talking to.” Identical, mischievous grins graced the other four members’ faces.

“It’s nice to meet you,” they said simultaneously, bowing in unison.

After their first meeting, Jess found herself all of EXO-M her close acquaintances, if not friends.  And, as usual, she and Jongdae kept on talking and meeting up with each other whenever they could.  However, one night made their relationship take a drastic turn.

It had been almost a year since that fateful night in Beijing when Jess met Jongdae.  Seeing as how her year-long contract with her school was almost up, she wasn’t entirely sure how she was going to break the news to her new-found best friend.  When he texted her, wanting to meet up again, she hesitantly agreed and grabbed her backpack before heading down.  As soon as she stepped foot outside, she lit up a cigarette, letting the nicotine fill her lungs, calming her nerves slightly.  Hearing the familiar sound of Jongdae’s footsteps, she raised her head slightly.  Worry and fear created an unpleasant sensation in her stomach.

"What’s wrong?” Jongdae asked immediately, seeing the expression on her face.  She sighed.  It was now or never, she supposed.

“My contract is up soon…” she said softly.  Because she was looking down, she didn’t notice the immediate look of heartbreak that flashed across his face.

“W-what?” came his broken reply.  “You’re…you’re leaving?” Against his will, he felt tears welling up in his eyes.  “You…you _can’t_ leave, Jess! Not…not now.” Seeing the look of confusion on her face, he decided it was about damn time that he came clean with his feelings.  “Okay, just…hear me out.” He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the worst.  “Truth is, I wouldn’t be able to survive without you here.  Not being able to see you and touch you…It would _kill_ me.  I fucking love you, Jess.  I am one hundred percent, totally, irrevocably, and completely in love with you.” He breathed out shakily, and a tear made a hot trail down his cheek.  “I know you probably don’t feel the same way, and that’s okay! Just please…Don’t leave me.”

By the time he was finished with his heartfelt speech, Jess’ hands had found their way to her face, covering her mouth in shock, her cigarette lying forgotten on the ground.  He… _what_? Love? Her? It was impossible.  Yet…his words were completely sincere.  Was she dreaming? Gathering her thoughts, Jess laughed lightly.  Jongdae frowned.

“You don’t have to laugh at me, y’know. A simple ‘I don’t like you’ would have worked,” he said bitterly, moving to walk away. Jess quickly reached out and grabbed his arm, preventing him from going any further.

“You’re right, Jongdae.  I don’t like you.” His shoulders slumped in defeat and he choked back a sob.  She then moved forward until her arms were wrapped around him tightly, and she rested her head on his back, between his shoulder blades.  “Because I _fucking_ love you too, idiot.” She sniffled, tears filling up her eyes.  She felt Jongdae tense, unbelieving for a second, before he turned around.  Bringing his hands up to cup her pale cheeks, he stared deep into her hazel eyes.

“Do you mean that?” He asked, breathless.  Instead of responding verbally, she reached up and placed her lips on his in a sweet kiss.  Pulling away quickly, she smirked up at him with red cheeks.  Laughing slightly, he said, “I take that as a yes?”

“Well, duh.” She rolled her eyes.  A question then came to his mind.

“Wait a second, you said that your contract was ending…” She laughed slightly at this.

“I never said it wasn’t going to be renewed though, did I?” she asked teasingly.  He glared playfully down at her.

“So…” he sang softly, bending his head down so that his lips just barely brushed against hers. “This means that you’re my girlfriend now, right?” he asked cheekily.  He got his answer in the form of her lips pressing firmly against his.  

 

**Author's Note:**

> Written because I was too broke to go to the concert while I was in Beijing. And because Jongdae.


End file.
